Woman sustains third-degree burns after she drops a cup of Costa Coffee tea in her lap during a date

Published: 09:13, 02 November 2016

Melissa Postello

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES*...

These are the horrific pictures of a woman who suffered third degree burns – from a cup of Costa Coffee tea.

Melissa Postello, aged 23, has told of her agony after she was left hospitalised from the hot drink which burned her skin last month. The retail worker was on a second date when she visited a drive-through Costa Coffee.

Sitting in the passenger’s side, she tells how the cups of tea were almost too hot to handle. Melissa said:

“When we took a sharp corner, I lost my grip and the scalding hot tea splashed on me. I remember saying ‘pull over’ and feeling like my legs were on fire.”

Within ten minutes, she could see that the skin on her legs had lifted and began to blister.

She went home and sat in a cold bath for 20 minutes. When the searing pain had not subsided, she went to A&E.

Her deep, painful wounds were treated by medics who sent home the same day, but she may need skin grafts to repair the damage.

Melissa has hit out at Costa Coffee for having water so hot it could injure someone.

She said that when she complained, staff told her that the water is never hotter than 92C – but her doctor explained the water needed to be at least 130C to get third degree burns.

To add insult to injury, Melissa hasn’t spoken with her date since the horrific incident either.

A Costa spokesperson said: ‘We were concerned to hear about this incident.

“At Costa we take the health and wellbeing of our customers very seriously, and as such we are looking into this as a matter of priority.”